A few days ago
Lee R

Physical Therapy Degree Question?

I am going to most likely major in Physical Therapy. I need the most honest and sourced answers as possible… I have been doing lots of research and was just wanting to get public opinion on these questions:

1) If I am going to go to grad school for PT, would it be ok for me to major in Spanish and just get the pre-reqs out of the way or if I majored in Kiniesology or Excercise Science would the other classes besides the pre-reqs that I would be taking help me earn a better grade in graduate PT school?

2) When going to graduate PT school would it be more beneficial for me to find a Doctorate program or would a Masters program be fine and I would be protected by the Grandfather clause when the doctorate degree was made nationwide?

Thank you so much

Top 2 Answers
A few days ago
mistify

Favorite Answer

Having your degree in exercise science or kinesiology does not necessarily increase your chance of admission. As quoted directly from the following admissions process:

“All applicants must have successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in a field of the applicant’s choice at an accredited college or university” (Nothwestern)

and

“…degree of emphasis is secondary to academic performance” (Creighton University)

…if you feel that your skills in Spanish would allow you to “get better grades” in the prerequisite courses, then choosing Spanish as a major is plausible. However, remember that the sciences are consistent with the level of academic performance required to make it through the PT program. If, however, you choose Spanish as your major purely because you enjoy it (and yes, it will help your career as a PT) then I say: “do it.”

The APTA has a visionary statement that by 2020 all PT programs will be DPT level programs, and they continue to encourage applicants to obtain the DPT. This, however, is not yet definitive; and yes, all previous graduates will still be allowed to practice whether they have their MS or DPT. This is a similar situation to 2002 when it changed from a BS to an MS….There are still many, many PTs practicing who’ve earned their BS…and even some with a certificate program.

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5 years ago
Anonymous
Biology etc. Or something along the lines of health. There is a good school in Oregon called Oregon Health Sciences in Portland.
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